Sports betting has changed dramatically in
a short time. Thanks to the law changing in the US, states can now lift
restrictions on sports betting, and more Americans are placing bets than ever
before.

This comes when the availability of the
internet has led to a rapidly growing number of online sportsbooks. These sites
have shaken up the industry, giving players more options and better value. New
technology in PA betting
apps means that we can place bets from our phones and have more choices
than ever when it comes to betting.

Here are some of the main ways that sports
betting has changed in the last twenty years:

Easier to Place Bets

People interested in placing bets have more
ways than ever to bet on their favorite sports. New online sportsbooks
regularly pop up, offering players the best odds and most convenient ways to
place bets. On top of this, the rise of smartphones means that sites are increasingly
catering to mobile users.

A few years ago, if you were out and wanted
to place a bet, you’d either have to visit a retail sportsbook or wait until
you got home. Nowadays, you can simply pull your phone out of your pocket, load
up your online sportsbook app or site, and pick your bet.

For many Americans, the only way to place
sports bets a few years ago was to go to Vegas. Nevada was the only state where
sports betting was allowed. Even then, you had to visit a retail sportsbook,
and online sportsbooks were restricted. Now, thanks to the change in federal
law, many states are starting to allow sports betting. These changes are all making
it even easier for sports fans everywhere to join in the action.

More Readily Available Information

One of the best ways to be successful and
make money when betting is to have good access to information. Things like statistics,
player history, and injury news, form records, and highlights are all crucial.
Just twenty years ago, a lot of this was hard to come by, especially for more
obscure sports.

In today’s world, however, you can get any
information you like on any sport, team, or player instantly. The internet is
full of the latest statistics and form sheets. Plus, you can find the latest
highlights and clips posted during or directly after the game.

The increase in information available to
fans has helped to even the playing field a little.

Better Lines

One negative thing that has come about in
recent years is that sportsbooks have gotten smarter with their odds. Whereas value
in the odds was something you could regularly find in the past, it’s slowly
getting rarer to find. This is especially true when the sportsbooks first set
the opening lines.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that value is
impossible to find, just that you have to look a little harder to discover it. You’re
probably not going to find value in the major events, but if you dig below the
surface and take a look at more obscure events, it’s a bit more frequent.

More Variety in Bets

It’s good to see that many online
sportsbooks are giving players more options when it comes to bets. These days,
major sporting events will have lists of prop
bets as long as your arm. While these bets don’t always offer the best
value, they can still provide a lot of fun.

On top of the increase in bets, sites now
offer a much wider variety of sports and leagues. It would have been unheard of
just ten years ago, but these days you can find plenty of sites offering odds
on eSports and other more niche options. There are also loads of options if you
like to bet on college sports and lower-level competitions.

Vintage Athlete of the Month

The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month was
just the fifth player in Major League Baseball history to have 11 straight
seasons with 20 or more home runs, yet could not sustain that greatness long
enough to earn a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In some sense, the legend of Rocco “Rocky” Colavito Jr.
began long before he ever started pounding home runs at the major league level.

Born and raised as a New York Yankees fan in The Bronx,
Colavito was playing semipro baseball before he was a teenager and dropped out
of high school at 16 after his sophomore year to pursue a professional career.
The major league rule at the time said a player could not sign with a pro team
until his high school class graduated, but after sitting out for one year,
Colavito was allowed to sign at age 17.